Niles, Dowagiac reach finals

GIRLS BASKETBALL/MICHIGAN DISTRICTS

GIRLS BASKETBALL/MICHIGAN DISTRICTS

November 17, 2005|BOB OPPENHEIM Tribune Staff Writer

STEVENSVILLE -- Strong second half performances from Brandie Radde of Niles and Katy Stuppy of Dowagiac helped the two teams prevail Wednesday in semifinal play at the Class B girls basketball district at Lakeshore High School. Radde scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half as the Vikings turned back the pesky Bears, 44-25. Stuppy totaled 22 of her 33 points in the final 16 minutes as the Chieftains beat Lakeshore, 55-46. Niles (18-3) and Dowagiac (8-14) meet Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Lakeshore High School for the district championship. The Vikings, who are looking to claim their ninth straight district title, defeated the Chieftains 52-37 and 63-37 during the regular season. "Our kids are excited," said Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren. "How long has it been since the Dowagiac girls basketball program has been in the district finals? I told our girls that they need to walk around our community and tell strangers that they're playing for the district championship. "We're proud of where we're at, but we're not done yet. We're going to come out and play as hard as we can on Friday." -Niles 44, St. Joseph 25: The Bears went into halftime ahead 14-12 and thinking upset. "The last word that was said out of the locker room (before the third quarter) was guts," said Niles coach Jim Arnold. "That was what it was going to take win the game in the second half." Midway through the third quarter, Arnold began to see his team reach deep inside and display the court performance that has made Niles a district champion in the past. Trailing 19-16, the Vikings went on a 23-4 run for a commanding 39-23 lead with 2:08 left in the game. Radde scored 14 points during that stretch. "She's one of our leaders," Arnold said about Radde, who entered the game as the Vikings' second leading scorer (16.6 ppg.). "It was just a question of her stepping up. She knew that she didn't have a very good first half for us." Another player that emerged in the second half for Niles was Sarah Dreher, who came into the game averaging 22.5 points a game to lead the Vikings. Dreher scored nine of her 12 points in the second half. Before Niles' top two offensive cogs got going, it was Jessica Shinsky who kept Niles in the game with her 10 points over the first 18 minutes. "We knew that we couldn't run up and down the court with Niles," said St. Joseph coach Rick Bloodworth. "They're extremely talented. They have two really good high school players (Radde and Dreher) and a good supporting cast with them. "We felt that we had to try to do something to change the flow and tempo of the game. We didn't try to stall and hold the ball totally, but we certainly tried to run some time each time we got the basketball. "Niles made it harder and harder for us to hold on to the basketball. I think we kind of wore down. For three quarters I thought we certainly gave them all they wanted." St. Joseph, which finished at 12-10, shot only 20 percent (3-of-15) from the field in the second half and had eight turnovers. The Bears connected on 55 percent of their shots (6-of-11) in the first half. -Dowagiac 55, Lakeshore 46: Success appears to be the norm for Stuppy when she steps on to the court at Lakeshore High School. Stuppy scored a career-high 38 points in Dowagiac's 58-57 overtime loss at Lakeshore during the regular season. The Lancers' nemesis was at it again on Wednesday, scoring 33 points, including 13 points in the fourth quarter. Stuppy went 10-of-11 from the foul line over the final eight minutes, which helped Dowagiac erase a 42-37 deficit with 5:22 remaining. The 5-foot-4 sophomore guard finished 18-of-19 from the free-throw line. "This is a place she likes to play in," said Blomgren. Lakeshore coach Jim Maier was gushing with compliments towards Stuppy. "We had a goal of containing her under 10 free-throw attempts," said Maier. "We were pretty close to that in the first half (8-of-8). She's just an unbelievable talent. I told my assistant that she's like a female Allen Iverson. She's got the ball and you can't do anything with it." Kristy Cooper added 10 points for the Chieftains, who went into halftime with a 26-24 lead. Holly Lowe's 3-pointer gave Dowagiac the lead for good at 43-42 with 3:27 left. "Holly made a big shot," Blomgren said. Molly Lange scored 12 points and Katie Pappa added 11 for the Lancers, who finish at 6-15. NILES 44, ST. JOSEPH 25 NILES (44): Sarah Dreher 5 2-5 12, Brandie Radde 5 5-7 17, Jessica Shinsky 5 0-0 10, Megan Scameheorn 0 3-4 3, Amanda Pingel 0 0-0 0, Lindsay Craig 1 0-0 2, Stephanee Schrader 0 0-0 0, Lauryn Gibson 0 0-0 0, Rebecca Teske 0 0-0 0, Baysia Cox 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 10-16 44. ST. JOSEPH (25): Michelle Bendewald 1 0-2 3, Megan Young 3 0-0 6, Jordan Goslee 0 0-0 0, Rebecca Ziebart 2 0-0 6, Megan Mejeur 3 2-6 8, Molly Emlong 0 0-0 0, Brittney Benya 0 0-0 0, Lauren Maddo 0 2-2 2, Maria Kish 0 0-0 0, Kingsley Ryan 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 9 4-10 25. Niles 7 12 27 44 St. Joseph 8 14 22 25 3-point goals: Niles 2 (Radde), St. Joseph 3 (Ziebart 2, Bendewald). Total fouls (fouled out): Niles 13 (none), St. Joseph 14 (none). Shooting: Niles 16-of-39 for 41 percent, St. Joseph 9-of-26 for 35 percent. Rebounding: Niles 21 (Radde 6), St. Joseph 22 (Young 5). Turnovers: Niles 6, St. Joseph 18.